'Silver Linings' scores Toronto festival's top prize

David O. Russell's dramatic comedy "Silver Linings Playbook," about a man's recovery from a personal and professional meltdown, won the Toronto International Film Festival's top prize Sunday. The film, starring Bradley Cooper as a former teacher who moves back in with his parents -- played by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver -- after an eight-month stint in a mental institution, scored the BlackBerry People's Choice award on the festival's final day. "Artifact" by Bartholomew Cubbins, about a band's struggle in the modern music business, took home the top documentary award. Mikael Marcimain's "Call Girl" won the International Critics' Prize, in its Discovery program, for a debut feature based on a real-life prostitution scandal that rocked Sweden in 1970s. French filmmaker Francois Ozon's "In the House" ("Dans la maison") nabbed the International Critics' Prize in its Special Presentations program. And "Seven Psychopaths" by Martin McDonagh starring Colin Farrell as a screenwriter who gets involved with criminals snagged the BlackBerry People's Choice Midnight Madness Award, as voted on by audiences during the festival. Other prizes were awarded to Canadian filmmakers. At the start of the festival, Russell revealed that he used Skype to interview actors for "Silver Linings Playbook." Among them was "Hunger Games" star Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Cooper's love interest in the film. Anupam Kher, meanwhile, auditioned from a village in India using Skype and by doing so said the local community got to know about the online video chat service. Russell previously directed "The Fighter" (2010) and "I Heart Huckabees" (2004).